Kids Help Phone says it has seen a steep rise in the amount of outreach from youth in the overnight hours — as high as 49 per cent in New Brunswick.
Aaron Sanderson, the CEO of Kids Help Phone (KHP), said the overnight hours are the helpline’s busiest.
“That’s probably because young people have an opportunity to be alone with their thoughts, some privacy, to consult some support and work through whatever challenge they may be facing in particular,” he said, speaking with The Courier. “Now, we’re seeing this incredible surge and we think that there are a variety of contributing factors to that.”
He said this can be linked back to the natural disasters occurring throughout the country that are causing a crisis in [the] community and the 24/7 access to a digital environment. A challenging job market for youth and financial strain are also contributing, Sanderson explained.
“It’s not surprising that we see more young people reach out for support,” he said. “I think we also need to anchor ourselves in understanding this is also a good thing. It’s concerning that there is so much volume, but young people are reaching out for support.”
According to a 2024 survey by the New Brunswick Health Council, 62 per cent of students in Grades 6 to 12 in the St. Stephen, Saint Andrews and Campobello Island area reported having trouble falling asleep all or most of the time.
About 49 per cent reported being the victim of bullying, compared with the provincial reported number of 48.2 per cent.
Another 52.7 per cent reported having symptoms of anxiety or depression. Roughly 39.1 per cent said they had perceived their mental health as good or very good, compared to the provincial average of 43 per cent.
In St. George, Grand Manan and Blacks Harbour area, the reported rate of those with symptoms of anxiety or depression was 53.6 per cent, compared to the provincial response rate of 49.5 per cent.
Sanderson said the organization is still trying to understand the drive behind the additional need for service in New Brunswick. He said, for some youth, it may be the only option available to them.
He said KHP wasn’t planning for these increases and back to school is around the corner.
“In order to meet that demand, we’ve been recruiting, training and deploying additional staff members,” Sanderson said. “We’ve been allocating more of our clinical staff than we had anticipated. In doing so, we’re consuming more resources than we had planned, which leads to the fundraising work and the urgent appeal that we’ve launched across Canada.”
He said a donor in the Atlantic region has agreed to match donations up to $250,000 until Sept. 11.
“Every donation, that dollar goes times two to help us meet the demand, so that we can be there for youth in the middle of the night,” he said.
Sanderson said not being able to meet demand could mean youth have to wait longer for service.
“It’s not just that young people will wait longer to receive support. Some won’t wait. Some situations can’t wait,” he said.
He said he encourages parents and educators to provide Kids Help Phone as a resource to their kids and other youth.“I think this is an opportunity both to support us to be able to serve the demand that is needed, as well as making sure young people know about the resources like Kids Help Phone before they might even require it,” he said.
